Footwear construction



Jan. 8, 1957 L. L. TAYLOR FOOTWEAR CONSTRUCTION Filed Feb. 25, 1954INVENTOR. [EON/7R0 L 79 YA 0/2 A MQ flrraeMs X United States PatentFOOTWEAR CONSTRUCTION Leonard L. Taylor, Chicago, Ill.

Application February 25, 1954, Serial No. 412,547 1 Claim. (Cl. 36-36)My invention relates to improvements in footwear construction.

My invention relates more particularly to improvements in theconstruction of heels and is directed to heels which are rotatable sothat the wear around the peripheral edge will be uniform, regardless ofthe walking habits of the individual wearer.

Various persons wear shoes or similar footwear in different Ways, somepeople wearing out one side or the other of the heel due to a particularway of walking or to a handicap or deformity of one type or another.Thus, if it were possible for the wearer to easily and quickly replace aworn heel or the wearing portion thereof, he would get much more use outof the pair of shoes, and as a result each pair would have a longeruseful life.

In addition, if it were possible for a user to buy an extra set of thisparticular type of heels when he bought a pair of shoes for a deformityof the feet or handicap of some kind, and the heels were such that hecould easily remove the worn ones and replace them with the spare oradditional heels he had purchased, he could quite easily double the lifeof the shoes he has purchased. This is especially desirable since it isoften inconvenient for persons to get to shoe repair shops when theheels need replacement, and as a result either the shoes are worn untilthey are beyond repair or are thrown aside and a new pair must bepurchased.

In addition thereto, the cost of specially made shoes of the orthopedictype for persons with handicaps or foot impediments, is usuallycomparatively expensive and large sums of money are spent for suchshoes. With the simple expedient of a rotatable heel of the typedescribed, a much longer life would result from the use of each suchpair of shoes.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a shoe orother article of footwear having a rotatable heel attached thereto.

A further object of the invention is to provide a rotatable heel of thetype described which will automatically, from the action of the wearerin walking, tend to intermittently rotate the heel so that the wear onthe peripheral edge of the same is maintained throughout the entirediameter of the heel.

A further object of the invention is to provide a heel for footwear ofthe type described that is easily attachable and one which may beremoved and replaced when it becomes worn and no longer givessatisfactory performance.

Other objects and advantages will be more apparent from the followingdescription wherein reference is had to the accompanying drawings, uponwhich Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a mans shoe equipped with mynew type of rotatable heel;

Fig. 2 is a bottom fragmentary view of the same;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view thereof taken generally onthe line 33 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary bottom perspective view showheel portion areconnected together.

2,776,502 Patented Jan. 8, 1957 "ice ing my invention as applied to theheel of a lady's shoe; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary bottom plan view showing the same as applied toan orthopedic shoe.

In the embodiment of the invention which I have chosen to illustrate anddescribe the same, I have shown a typical mans shoe 10 which may have abody portion 12, a sole 14 and a heel 16. The heel 16 which I providemay be generally formed in three parts, a shallow or comparatively thinheel portion 18, an inner portion 19, and a rotatable member 20.

The thin or shallow heel portion 18 may have a centrally located nutmember 22 provided with a flange 24 which is adapted to be fastened onthe inner face of ,the same by means of the usual fastening nails 26.The

nut member 22 may also have a boss 28 provided with a tapped centralbore 30.

The rotatable heel portion 20 may be formed with a central opening 32terminating in an enlarged shallow circular opening in the upper face ofthe same. A flexible metal plate 34 is placed on the floor of saidshallow opening, the plate 34 being provided with radially extendingarms 36 which have serrations 38 about their periphery for engaging intothe surface of the edge of the shallow opening so that the plate and therotatable If the rotatable heel portion is made of rubber, the same maybe suitably embedded therein by extruding plugs 40 through suitableopenings in the plate 34.

The rotatable heel portion 20 may be fastened to the shallow heelportion 18 by means of a bolt member 42 which has a threaded portion 44engaging in the tapped Opening 30, the bolt having a suitable shoulderto properly space the same against the nut 22 and a slotted head 46 forfastening the same down. The bolt extends through a central opening 50in the spring plate member 34.

The inner heel portion 19, as can be seen, is provided with an arcuateend Wall 52 of the same diameter as the rotatable heel portion 20, sothat in ordinary appearance the entire heel has a fiat lower surface andis generally shaped to the contour of the rigidly secured heels.However, as can be seen in Fig. 1 of the drawings, there are persons whoas they walk put more pressure on either the left or right side of theheel as it engages the walking surface, with the result that as eachstep is taken there is a tendency to rotate the heel portion 20slightly. In this way, as a person walks, the rotatable heel portion 20will intermittently move in a circle, and as a result the wear on theedge of the same be uniform about its entire diameter.

In Fig. 4 I have shown a ladys shoe 60 provided with the usual sole 62and a high heel 64. I have provided the same attachment of shallow heelportion 18, inner heel portion 19 and rotatable heel portion 20, asshown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3.

In Fig. 5 I have shown a similar attachment of a rotatable heel portion20 fastened by the bolt 42 in association with an orthopedic attachment66 applied to the sole 68 of a specially built shoe for persons who havea deformity and require the orthopedic build-up, as shown. With thisconstruction of shoe the rotatable heel again is provided so that eventhough greater pressure is brought on the left or right side of the heelwhen walking, the heel portion 20 will intermittently move as steps aretaken, thereby rotating the same continuously when the wearer is walkingso that the peripheral edge of the same will be worn down in a uniformmanner.

With the present attachment for shoes it can be seen that the health ofthe wearer can be greatly improved and the expense, especially oforthopedic or other specially built shoes can be greatly reduced.

I contemplate that changes and modifications may bemadein the exactdetails shown and I do notv wish. to be limited in any particular;rather what I desire to secure and protect by Letters Patent of theUnited States is:

A three-part heel for shoes comprising athin heel portion adapted to befastened to a shoe, a centrally lo.- cated nut member secured thereto,said nut member having an enlarged flange fastened on the inner surfaceof said thin heel portion. and a tapped boss extending through the same,a fiat rotatable heel portion cylindrical in shape and having a centralopening therethrough terminating in an enlarged shallow opening in theface of the same, a flexible metal plate positioned in said opening andlying against the floor of said opening, said plate having radiallyextending arms, serrations. on the outer edges of said arms forfrictionallyconnecting said plate and said rotatable heel portiontogether, said plate having a central opening therethrough, a fasteningbolt extending through said central opening and engaging said tappedboss, a spacing shoulder on said bolt and an inner heel portion of thethickness of said rotatable References Cited in the file of this patentUNITED STATES PATENTS 801,549 Santini Oct. 10, 1905 833,078 MorrisonOct. 9, 1906 1,052,508 Newland Feb. 11, 1913 1,274,734 Maliszewski Aug.6, 1918 1,280,836 Quevedo Oct. 8, 1918

